FEATURE
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REBEKAH MURRELL IN THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR, TALKS J'OUVERT
’Ouvert first came to our attention when it played at Theatre 503, Battersea, in June 2019 - and it makes a return this year for a limited run at the Harold Pinter Theatre. From Wednesday 16 June to Saturday 3 July 2021 you can immerse yourself in Yasmin Joseph’s wonderful play J’Ouvert, which offers many moments of recognition to anyone who’s ever played mas at Notting Hill, felt the frustration of a queue for overpriced, gentrified food, or encountered a swagger of youths trying to play the big man. We got in touch with Rebekah Murrell, the director, and put forward the following questions. 20 SN JUN 2021
Who are you? I’m an actor and director from London. I’ve worked with writer Yasmin Joseph on various projects over the last four years, all joyful and thought-provoking pieces of work centring Black British and Caribbean women’s perspectives - Do You Pray, about a grandmother and her granddaughter attempting to connect; First Winter, about the lives and contributions of Windrush-era citizens to the NHS; and J’Ouvert, about our beloved Notting Hill Carnival, and all the joys and trials that come with taking up space there as a young woman.
